This picturesque Warmian village witnessed the Marian apparitions that took place here in 1877. These are the only apparitions officially recognized by the Church in Poland. Our Lady appeared to two girls - Barbara Samulowska and Justyna Szafryńska, speaking to them in Polish at the time when Warmia belonged to the Prussian partition.

After the Marian apparitions, pilgrims began to draw to Gietrzwałd. For their needs, the existing church was expanded to give it its present shape. In the church in Gietrzwałd, since the Middle Ages, there is a painting of the Holy Mother, famous for favors. At the Marian Shrine we will see a shrine of apparitions, set in a place where once stood a maple, on which appeared the Mother of God. Unfortunately, the map was burned down by a lightning strike. A piece of wood was shown as a souvenir at the chapel. To the miraculous spring, consecrated by Mary, leads the avenue of hornbeam, where the rosary chapels were placed.

The stations of the Way of the Cross are located in the grounds near the sanctuary. In Gietrzwałd, the building of the first Polish bookshop in Warmia, founded and run by the well-known social activist Andrzej Samulowski, has been preserved. Samulowski was also the initiator of the creation of Gazeta Olsztyńska (published with intervals to this day), the first of which was The "zero" number was released in Gietrzwałd. When visiting the village, it is worth visiting the Warmińska Inn, serving regional cuisine.